Kar'taylir Darasuum adol Kyr'am (Love through Death)
by Oakenshield34
Summary: The 51st has suffered a terrible blow. Their commander, Marissa, has fallen against General Grevious. Duke remembers her with his brothers and many stories are told of her. From the first time she became commander of the 51st to her death, but will she stay dead?
1. Chapter 1: The Death

Disclaimer: I do not own the Star Wars universe. It belongs to George Lucas, Disney, and Lucasfilm. I don't own Ventress, General Grievous, or anyone else who has been in Star Wars movies, books, or TV shows. I don't own the planets either! Unfortunatly...  
I don't own Sleepsong either, that belongs to Secret Garden.  
I do own aaallll of the OC's in this piece tho!  
Go gently on the reviews please, this is my first one, but there will be more chapters coming! And maybe one shots!

Kar'taylir Darasuum adol Kyr'am (Love through Death)

"Duke...I-I….kar'taylir darasuum….gar."

Those words are all Duke, the clone Captain of the 51st, can hear as he and his brothers stand around the fire or his commander's pyre. His hands curl into fists as he gazes at the young woman's dead body, his eyes prickling with tears. Tears of anger, grief, and guilt. His brothers watch him with eyes of anger, pity, sadness, grief, and neutral. No one shows tears, through the eyes of every man are misty with unshed tears for their fallen commander. He blinks at them as he looks around and numbly shakes his head no. He knows that they want him to talk about her. He can't, he can't explain, not when her pyre is so close and her death still closer. The fire burns on and when it dies down, all that's left is her ashes, her lightsaber, and a ring. Duke leans down and picks up the ring and puts it in one of his pockets and grabs the lightsaber his commander once used in their defense and put it on his belt. He looks up at the stars and constellations of the planet Dantooine, tears jump in his eyes and he lets out a scream of pain and loss. Sly, the medic of the 51st, rushes over with Spark as Duke screams and falls to his knees.

"Duke!"

They both grasp his shoulders, all they receive as a reply is broken sobs. They look at each other in concern. Sly smiles slightly as he pats Duke's back,

"It's alright, Vod. Hey,"

He looks up,

"You guys remember when she first came to us? As a shiny?"

All three of them laugh.

"Oh yeah. She was a deer in the headlights."

* * *

 _Duke stands on the Venator class cruiser in its hangar deck awaiting the arrival of his new commander. From what he's heard, she is a warrior with a gentle heart towards her men. A ship comes in for a smooth landing. The ramp lowers and a young human female with blonde hair and blue eyes with a few scars on her face walks down the ramp. The girl walks up to him and she is slightly shorter than him. He salutes,_

 _"Commander."_

 _She bows,_

 _"Captain."_

 _He notices the tension around her shoulders as she bows,_

 _"Are you alright, sir?"_

 _She has to tilt her chin up to look at him,_

 _"I am fine, Captain. Just sore from my latest mission with Master Voss."_

 _He can't hold in his snort of laughter,_

 _"Master Voss? Haven't heard that name in awhile. I used to serve with him. Good man, but on the cold side with us clones."_

 _He removes his helmet,_

 _"I'm Captain Duke, by the way sir. Duke works just as well as Captain. Welcome aboard, Sir."_

 _She smiles,_

 _"Call me Marissa."_

 _She extends her hand and he extends his. To his surprise, they are in a warrior's arm grip. He looks at her in confusion. She smirks,_

 _"I was with the 501st before I came here."_

 _He laughs,_

 _"Come on, sir...Marissa."_

 _She nods and walks with him. As they walk, he sees her eyes gradually widen. She bumps into a trooper with a datapad and a cup of caf in hand. He drops both items, but only catches the datapad. Marissa splays her fingers on her right hand as the clone's eyes widen as his caf drops. Time seems to freeze._

 _"Grab it quickly please. I can't hold this forever."_

 _Both Duke and the other clone turn to look at Marissa. She seems frozen too. The other clone quickly grabs his caf and Marissa lowers her hand, time flows once again. He notices that the commander smiles and apologizes,_

 _"I am soo sorry for bumping into you...um?"_

 _"My name is Sly, sir. Field medic of the 51st. You must be the new commander."_

 _She nods,_

 _"I am. And please, call me Marissa. Nice to meet you Sly."_

 _"Nice meeting you too, command-er, Marissa."_

 _Sly walks away as does Duke and Marissa. Marissa is still wide eyed as they walk._

* * *

Sly, Duke, and Spark chuckle. Duke smiles sadly,

"Heh. Yeah, she was like that for the first few days. Until the first mission. Remember that one?"

They nod,

"Yeah,...that took its toll on her afterwards."

A few shinies walk over and sit down them. The way they're sitting means that they want to hear about their fallen commander. Duke smile wavers slightly and takes a deep breath.

* * *

 _Duke watches Marissa deflect and redirect blaster bolts away from them with her purple lightsaber. He finds himself admiring the way she moves. She moves with grace, but when it came down to crunch time, she moves with bit more jerky movements. He shakes his head, telling himself to focus on the fight at hand. He and his men fire frantically into the enemy lines to take out as many droids as they can. They are all shocked when a blaster bolt hits Marissa's hand and sends her lightsaber out of her reach. She looks at them in shock before getting hit by two more blaster bolts, one in the stomach and one in the right shoulder. She stumbles back, then another one hits her in her chest. She crumples to the ground. Duke turns to his men,_

 _"Sly! Go! Spark, Shredder! Go with him! Everyone else, hold the line!"_

 _Everyone of his men nod and does as he says. He watches out of the corner of his eye as Sly quickly assesses the commander while Spark and Shredder cover him. Soon, Shredder is carrying Marissa to the medical tent with Sly walking in front of them and Spark covering them. In a matter of moments, the battle is over. They take off their helmets and look around. Duke turns to them,_

 _"Alright. I want this place cleaned up by five o'hundred hours. I'm going to check on our commander's status."_

 _They nod and get to work. He turns, sharply, on his heel and starts to walk in the direction of the medical tent. He walks in and sees Sly working on Seaweed. Duke walks over and puts a hand on Seaweed's shoulder when he tries to get up,_

 _"Easy, Seaweed. Get some 'll need you at your best when we're back on Kamino."_

 _Seaweed smiles and nods,_

 _"Understood, Duke."_

 _Duke looks at Sly. Sly is covered with dirt and blood and has a tired and worried look on his face. Sly jerks his head and walks away. Duke follows with a concerned look on his face. Sly stops when they reach a quiet part of the medical tent and turns around. Sly has fear in his eyes,_

 _"I don't think she'll make it through the night, Duke. Her wounds are bad, fatal too."_

 _Duke lowers his head and closes his eyes,_

 _"She can't die! We need her!"_

 _"I'm sorry Duke. I can't do anything else. Not here. I could on the ship, but it's too dangerous to move her."_

 _Duke sighs,_

 _"Where is she?"_

 _Sly leads him to the isolation room. In the viewing window, he can see Marissa, otherwise known as their commander, lies on a cot. She has an IV in her left arm, bandages and bacta patches on the three wounds, an oxygen mask on her face, and the monitors she's attached to are showing her vitals are low. Duke's face turns into one of sorrow as he looks at his alling commander's body then looks at Sly,_

 _"Can I...can I see her?"_

 _Sly nods and opens the door. Duke steps into the room and quickly crosses to where she lies. He kneels next to her and takes her right hand in his left and puts his right on her forehead. He stays there forever then Sly comes in,_

 _"Duke, you need to rest."_

 _He nods numbly and gets up and walks to his quarters. He wakes up in the middle of the night to his holocom going off. He reaches over,_

 _"What?"_

 _Sly's panicked voice comes through the transmitter,_

 _"Duke!"_

 _"Sly! What is it?!"_

 _"It's Marissa. She's gotten worse! We need you here now!"_

 _"I'm on my way!"_

 _Duke jumps up and quickly gets his armor on and runs to the medical tent. He comes to where Marissa is and stops dead in his tracks. All of the men of the 51st are standing close to the window. They make a hole for him to see. What he sees is worse than what he imagined. He sees Marissa, their young commander, on her side facing the window coughing up blood. Her wounds still leak blood out and her face is the worst part. Her face is of pure agonizing pain. Duke puts his hand on the window and Marissa looks up. Her lips quirk into a small smile, before she has another coughing fit. Sly opens the door and gestures Duke in. Duke is in before anyone can blink. He crosses over and kneels next to his commander. He rubs her back as she coughs. To his and everyone else's horror, she goes onto her back and just lies there, gasping for breath. Duke puts a hand on her forehead and his eyes close in a grimace. Fever. One of the worst things to have when you're injured. That either means you're sick or you have an infection. Duke keeps his hand on her forehead as she sighs in relief. He grips her hand and brings it to his chest. She looks at him through a pain filled gaze,_

 _"D..Duke?..."_

 _He smiles sadly and nods,_

 _"I'm right here, commander. We got you."_

 _She relaxes into the cot and her eyes slowly slip close and her breathing slows. He mutters,_

 _"K'oyacyi, Marissa."_

 _He keeps holding her hand, waiting for her to breath her last. Yet, she never does. She heals enough to be moved to the ship by morning. She spends several days in a bacta tank. When she's out and resting, she receives visitors. Duke is one of the first. He gives her an update on the battle and that they won. She smiles at that and gestures for him to sit. He does. They talk about many things, the main one is that there should be bacta tanks on the surface of the planet they're on so they can use it._

* * *

The shinies look at them with bewilderment as they laugh. The shinies ask,

"Weren't you worried for her?"

"She had us worrying since she got shot."

"Then why do you laugh?"

Spark smiles slightly,

"Because these are memories, shinies."

Now the entire 51st is laughing. Half of the 51st was with the original company that served with Marissa while the other half are completely shinies, newbies, barely knew her. So one of the shinies raises his hand,

"Sir...could you tell us more?

Duke smiles,

"How much more, kid?"

"All the way to now."

Duke, Sly, Spark, Shredder, and Seaweed all look at each other as well as the others that knew her and they nod.

"Alright kid, but this'll take awhile."

* * *

 _Marissa and Duke stand across from each other in the training room. Both are panting and sweating, but they smile at one another. The cheers and yells of their audience keeps them going at it. Duke wears simple training clothes while Marissa wears shorts and an exercise bra. She scars from her first mission seem to stick out because of her pale complexion. Duke's eyes eye the scars. To him, those scars means failure. He's supposed to protect her not the other way around. She looks at him so concerned and he's about to say he's fine when she mouths,_

 _"Later."_

 _They charge at each other. They fall in a tangle of limbs. He elbows her in the stomach, in the same spot she was shot. She lets out a small hiss of pain, but keeps him in a headlock. Duke is forced to tap out. Marissa let's go and they both roll to their feet, her hand goes to the scarred over wound on her stomach. Duke walks up to her and puts a hand on her arm,_

 _"I'm sorry sir."_

 _"Don't worry about it, Duke. It's still healing. Still sore."_

 _Sly heard this and walks up to them,_

 _"Marissa? Do you need for me to look at it?"_

 _Marissa shakes her head,_

 _"I'll be fine, Sly. I'll come to you if I do need you to."_

 _Sly nods and backs off. Duke turns to leave,_

 _"Duke. We need to talk."_

 _Duke turns to his commander. She motions for him to follow her. He does follow her. She stops in front of her quarters. They enter and she turns around,_

 _"What was the look for in our sparring match?"_

 _"What look sir?"_

 _"The one that reads guilt."_

 _Duke looks down,_

 _"I was supposed to protect you! And you protected us. That almost killed you."_

 _"It's what I do, Captain. I am a Jedi. I will always look after my men."_

 _"We thank you for that, Commander. But let us return the favor."_

 _"On a few occasions, I'll allow it."_

 _"Allow it? But sir…!"_

 _"NO! I'm not losing anyone else! That's final."_

 _Duke recoils. He is shocked to see tears falling down her face, her hands in fists, and the look of failure on her face. She lowers her head. That's when he realized that the deaths of her men took its toll on her. He walks over to her and puts a hand on her shoulder,_

 _"Commander...Marissa, look at me."_

 _Her head tilts up to look at him with tears in her eyes. He wipes away her tears, gently,_

 _"You can't blame yourself for their deaths. It's what we were born to do."_

 _"That doesn't mean that they have to die!"_

 _Duke pulls her into a hug and she sobs into his chest,_

 _"Marissa….Commander, you can't let the death of your men overwhelm you. I had to learn it the hard way. Trust me on it."_

 _She sniffles and pulls away,_

 _"Ok. Ok. I'll trust you."_

 _They smile weakly at each other before Marissa wipes her tears,_

 _"You're dismissed, Captain."_

 _Duke salutes and walks out. He makes his way to his own quarters._

 _The 51st are on the planet of Taris, fighting the droid army. Marissa, their brave and loyal commander, is up front. Next to her is Duke, Captain of the 51st. Their goal is to capture a listening outpost, as quickly and as quietly as possible. They get inside and destroy the droids before grabbing the information they needed to get. On the way out, Marissa is admiring Duke's aim as well as how well he's keeping up with her after five hours of fighting, or was it six? She shakes herself out of those thoughts and goes back to focusing on the battle at hand. She turns as she hears a scream of agony behind her. She gasps and splays her fingers on her left hand to freeze time as she sees Duke get hit. She and Duke are the only ones that freeze. Sly and Shredder scramble to get to him. They grab him and pull him out of the way before he hits the ground. She lets her hand fall and goes back to getting out of the droids alive. In another hour, the fight is over. She turns to her men,_

 _"Make sure they never knew we were here. Spark, if a droid isn't that damaged, fix it and wipe its memory of us being here. Tin, erase the memory of the terminal so it never showed us in it and erase the camera footage too."_

 _Tin, Spark, and the rest of the men get to work. Marissa turns and runs to where Sly is treating Duke. She kneels next to them,_

 _"Sly?"_

 _Sly looks up,_

 _"He has a chance if the transport gets here in time. If not, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do."_

 _Marissa nods numbly,_

 _"I'll stay with him. Come to me if the men are done with what they're doing."_

 _Sly salutes,_

 _"Yes sir."_

 _He walks away. Marissa puts his head in her lap and runs her hand through his hair. Duke gives a groan of pain,_

 _"Shh, captain. I gotcha."_

 _Duke groans again. This time, Marissa takes a deep breath and begins to sing a song taught to her in the temple. Her voice is like an angel to Duke,_

 _"Loo-li, loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay_  
 _Loo-li, loo-li, loo-li lai-lay_  
 _Lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby_  
 _Back to the years of loo-li lai-lay_  
 _And I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow_  
 _Bless you with love for the road that you go_  
 _May you sail far to the far fields of fortune_  
 _With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet_  
 _And may you need never to banish misfortune_  
 _May you find kindness in all that you meet_  
 _May there always be angels to watch over you_  
 _To guide you each step of the way_  
 _To guard you and keep you safe from all harm_  
 _Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay_  
 _May you bring love and may you bring happiness_  
 _Be loved in return to the end of your days_  
 _Now fall off to sleep, I'm not meaning to keep you_  
 _I'll just sit for a while and sing loo-li, lai-lay_  
 _May there always be angels to watch over you_  
 _To guide you each step of the way_  
 _To guard you and keep you safe from all harm_  
 _Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay, loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay_  
 _Loo-li, loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay_  
 _Loo-li, loo-li, loo-li lai-lay_  
 _Loo-li, loo-li, loo-li lai-lay_  
 _Loo-li, loo-li, loo-li lai-lay_  
 _Loo-li, lai-lay"_

 _When the song is done, all of the men are around them. They stand there with their heads lowered. Duke's breathing is labored. Marissa lowers her head so that their foreheads are touching. Her head darts up when she hears the sound of a gunship landing. She smiles and hands Duke over to his brothers. Marissa watches, concerned, as Duke is put on the gunship. The blast door close and the gunship lifts into the air. Marissa takes a deep breath and walks to another gunship. A few moments later, she's on the cruiser, The Cenotaph. She rushes to the medbay. While on her way there, she bumps into Spark,_

 _"I'm sorry, Spark."_

 _"It's alright, Commander."_

 _They both kept walking in the other direction. Marissa gets to the medbay after what feels like eternity. She enters and Sly immediately notices her. Sly quickly walks to her with a smile on his face. Marissa sighs in relief,_

 _"I'm guessing that he's ok."_

 _"He is. Thanks to you. When he woke, he asked where you were."_

 _"Can I see him?"_

 _Sly nods and leads her to a cot where Duke is lying with bandages and bacta patches cover his wounds. He looks up and smiles,_

 _"Commander."_

 _"Captain."_

 _Marissa smiles and looks at him,_

 _"Get some rest. It wouldn't be good if you were sleep deprived in the next battle."_

 _"I'll sleep when I know how many men we lost."_

 _"Then I'll help you rest easy. We have no dead. Everyone is either wounded or fine."_

 _Duke is shocked,_

 _"Wha...What? No dead?"_

 _"No dead."_

 _Duke smiles in relief and relaxes into the cot. Marissa's smile broadens,_

 _"I'll leave you to rest."_

 _She leaves before he can even say anything. Duke just stares after her with his mouth open. He hears a snicker and looks over to Joker,_

 _"What's so funny, Vod?"_

 _"Oh. Nothing."_

 _Joker turns away from Duke, leaving him confused._

 _A few days later, Duke and Marissa and the 51st are on the planet of Geonosis for a mission. It's a simple one, get in, get out, blow the factory. But they didn't foresee that Ventress would be there, waiting. Duke tried to force Marissa to the back, but instead, she stood her ground and fought Ventress. Marissa's brilliant purple lightsaber clashes with Ventress' blood red ones. Marissa force pushes her back and turns to them,_

 _"GO!"_

 _Duke and everyone else stares at her like she's crazy. Duke snaps out of it first,_

 _"No way, Commander. We are not leaving you here with that hairless harpy!"_

 _"Captain, that is an order!"_

 _Duke remembers the conversation after her wounds. He hears her words to him. Duke closes his eyes and looks into her's. Marissa's eyes are pleading for them to finish the mission. He makes his choice. Duke nods and begins to run to the elevator with the rest of the 51st following him, leaving Marissa to fight Ventress, alone. Duke and his men recover Republic info and have set the charges. They return to the area they last saw Marissa and Ventress, except no one is there. The only thing there is Marissa's lightsaber and blood staining the floor. Duke frowns,_

 _"Oh no."_

 _Duke runs over to Marissa's lightsaber and picks it up. Sly goes to the bloodstain and takes a sample. Sly turns to Duke,_

 _"It's Marissa's blood."_

 _Duke stared at the blood in horror,_

 _"We have to find her!"_

 _"We can't! We have to finish the mission! She would've wanted it…..We can look for her after we succeed in our mission."_

 _Duke's shoulders slump and he nods. They all run out of the factory and blow it sky high. They are assigned with finding Marissa, their commander, and rescue her. It takes them an entire year to locate her. When they do, they storm the ship, kill the droids and search for her. They find her bleeding heavily, barely breathing, and barely hanging onto life. Duke runs into the cell and catches her as she falls from where they had her chained. Duke cradles her in his arms as he carries her out of the cell and onto the ship and into the medbay where they tell him to get out. He gets out and paces in the waiting room, but no one tells him to stop. Eventually, one of the medical droids came out and approached them. Everyone who was sitting, stood up and looked at the droid with the expression that if it didn't start providing answers soon, they'd tear it apart._

 _"She sustained many injuries, internal and external. We've treated what we could, now the rest is up to her."_

 _The droid rolls back into the room while the clones turn and look at each other. Duke walks in first and holds her hand. A few months later, Marissa is up and strong enough to train. She mainly spares with Duke or Sly. Duke accidentally punches her where one of her wounds are and she backs away hissing. Duke stops and walks over. Marissa smirks and gets him on the floor. She pants,_

 _"I win."_

 _Duke groans,_

 _"For the thousandth time."_

 _She chuckles and lets him up. They walk to the view port and talk. Eventually, Duke works up enough courage to look at her and say,_

 _"Commander…"_

 _"Hm?"_

 _"I-I have something to tell you…"_

 _She looks over at him with an arched eyebrow,_

 _"Oh?"_

 _He gulps,_

 _"I-I love you….."_

 _Marissa's eyes widen before she smiles. She doesn't say anything. She just kisses him. Duke gives her a ring to show his love for her. It is a golden ring with two stones in the middle, one purple and one black. As the months go by, their relationship becomes deeper. All of that changed when they were assigned to the planet, Dantooine, to stop the Separatists from moving closer to any of the core worlds. Marissa, as usual, was on the front lines with her men. They were faring quite well when General Grievous showed up. Marissa looked back at them with an apologetic look before running over to Grievous and locking sabers with him. Duke saw this and screamed at the top of his lungs,_

 _"COMMANDER! NO!"_

 _Marissa didn't seem to hear him, for she just kept leading Grievous away from him and his men. Duke and his brothers kept fighting until all that was left was smoke and droid parts. A piercing scream filled the air causing all of the clones to look at each other. Duke stiffened and ran towards the sound,_

 _"Marissa!"_

 _When he arrived in a clearing, he wasn't expecting to see his commander lying on her back and gasping for air with her lightsaber on her belt. Duke ran over to her and removed his helmet before taking her in his arms,_

 _"Marissa…."_

 _Her fading blue eyes focused on his face,_

 _"D-Duke…cyar'ika..."_

 _"I'm here. I'm right here. We'll get you fixed up."_

 _Marissa smiles before turning her head away, wincing in pain from the many lightsaber wounds on her body. Duke takes in her situation with pain filled eyes. He strokes her hair and pulls her closer,_

 _"Don't go…..we still need you….I still need you…"_

 _Marissa raises a shaky hand to cup Duke's chin. She gives a sad smile as her body relaxes and her hand falls. Duke catches her hand and brings it to his chest,_

 _"K'oyacyi Marissa….K'oyacyi cyare…"_

 _Marissa's head lolls to rest on Duke's shoulder. Her breathing is labored and her eyes are glazing over. The ever present fire in her eyes, close to being extinguished. Duke holds her tighter,_

 _"Don't leave me….please don't leave me…."_

 _Marissa looks up at him and whispers,_

 _"Duke...I-I….kar'taylir darasuum….gar."_

 _Duke pulls her into a kiss, but it is ended too soon when Marissa goes limp and she breathes her last. Duke puts his forehead to hers as he fights back the tears. He picks up his commander's body and carries her back to her, and his, brothers._

* * *

Duke finishes the story as his brothers put comforting hands on his shoulders. There is not one dry eye after the story of their commander. Duke grits his teeth and stands up before walking over to a different part of their camp. He closes his before having them snap open again. He turns to his brothers and holds up a hand and an eerie silence falls over the camp. They hear metal feet hitting the ground and they grabs their weapons and armor. They form a line of defense and wait for their enemy or enemies to show themselves. They hear a robotic laugh and a hacking cough before four lightsabers come to life in front of them. General Grievous laughs,

"Hello there."

-  
Translations for Mando'a words(In order of appearence):  
kar'taylir darasuum gar-I love you  
K'oyacyi-stay alive  
cyar'ika-darling, sweetheart  
cyare-beloved, loved

* * *

Annnddd, that's my first fic!

Review if you want, just be gentle...please.

Let me know if you have any requests on these lovely characters or scenarios they find themselves in.

May the force be with you all!


	2. Chapter 2: The Hit

**Kar'taylir Darasuum adol Kyr'am (Love through Death) Ch. 2**

 **I'm back with a new chapter! It might be shorter than the other one since I'm saving all of my good ideas for later chapters. But enjoy!**

* * *

 **Ch. 2**

General Grievous laughs,

"Hello there."

Duke swallows thickly as Grievous comes closer. He turns to his brothers,

"Hold the line, vod!"

Grievous cackles as the clones shift between running and fighting. Duke looks up as bright lights fill the air. Gunships come swooping down and the whole 51st runs to them. Duke, Sly, Spark, Seaweed, Shredder, and Ninja happen to get on the same gunship as Captain Rex. As soon as their on and away from danger, Duke and his men take off their helmets and slide down the walls of the gunship. Kix and Jesse go to Sly and Spark while Fives and Echo go to Seaweed and Shredder and Coric goes to Ninja. Rex comes over to Duke and kneels next to him. Duke doesn't look at him but puts his head back against the wall of the gunship.

"Duke?"

Duke breaks down. Tears come streaming down his face. The members of the 501st on the gunship take off their helmets as they talk in low voices as Rex puts a hand on Duke's shoulder and pulls him against his chest. Duke sobs against his brother. The men of the 501st looked at Duke very confused. Duke chokes out,

"She's gone…"

Rex looks down at him,

"Who's gone? Brother, who'd you lose?!"

Duke slumped further into his brother's arms. As he started to lose consciousness, he mutters,

"Our commander, Marissa…"

Kix and Sly run over as they notice Duke losing consciousness. Rex refuses to let go of his younger brother as he begins to go unconscious. Kix yells in frustration,

"Rex! You need to let us see him!"

Sly speaks up,

"He wasn't injured though! Not at all during this campaign!"

As the medics argued back and forth, Rex cradles Duke's head and runs his hands through his short hair,

"It's ok, vod. We have you. It's going to be ok."

Duke hears those words as he fades into sleep.

* * *

The gunships land in the _Resolute's_ docking bay. As soon as the door's open, Duke is half dragged half carried to Rex's quarters by Rex and Sly. They lay Duke down on the bottom bunk, where he always sleeps on the _Resolute_. Rex sits down next to him and looks at Sly lingering,

"I'll take care of him. Go."

Sly nods and exits the room. Rex looks at the sleeping form of his little brother and whispers,

"What happened to make you be like this vod?"

* * *

Sly walks to the medbay on the _Resolute_ , there he is stopped by the 501st members who witnessed Duke's meltdown. Or otherwise known as Fives, Echo, Kix, Jesse, and Coric. Fives pulls him into one of the closets where the others are. Sly automatically tenses. Kix puts a hand on his shoulder,

"Easy vod...it's just us."

Sly's shoulders slump. They gather around him. Echo asks,

"Who'd you lose? And tell us the truth…"

"We….we lost Marissa. Our commander."

Fives shoves him into Kix and hisses,

"You're lying!"

Sly says in a broken voice,

"I'm not….. I swear…"

The words and the tone of voice make the boys freeze before lowering their heads.

"How...how did she…?"

"She took General Grievous away from us. She got stabbed...multiple times. Other than that, Duke knows and he's out at the moment."

They nod before walking out, Kix leaves with Sly to take care of the ones who are injured or sick.

* * *

Duke is trapped in his own mind. He keeps replaying Marissa's death over and over and over. It never ends, no matter how hard he tries. He then dreams of his brothers which turns into a nightmare as well. He watches as his brothers fall around him and he's frozen. He can't do anything and soon all are dead. Duke unfreezes and walks around. Some were killed by blaster bolts, some by vibro blades, and a few were killed by a lightsaber. Duke hears footsteps behind him. The steps are lighter than a droid or a brother. He turns and is face to face with Marissa. She is clothed in all black with red eyes and a red saber. Blood drips from multiple wounds on her. With a horrifying look, she stabs Duke in the gut. Her face twisted into a sneer. Duke sputters and gasps as he falls to the ground. His head hits the ground hard and he slips into a dark oblivion.

* * *

Rex dips a piece of cloth into a bowl of cold water that he had gotten. He bites his lip in worry. Duke is running a fever and having fevered nightmares. Duke has moaned the names of his brothers and Marissa. Rex stood up to go over and get some more blankets so Duke could sweat out the fever. As soon as Rex touched the blanket, Duke fell silent. Rex quickly ran back to Duke. He slid to Duke's bedside and immediately noticed that he wasn't breathing.

"Kriff…"

Rex frantically put his fingers to Duke's neck, praying, hoping that he'd have a pulse. But there was none. There was no beat. The skin was already going cold.

"Duke! Don't you dare die on me vod!"

Rex began to do CPR. He stopped to check then started again. He repeated the process several times.

"Come on, Duke! Vod!"

He stopped and checked again and laughed in relief as there was a pulse under his fingers. But he stopped,

"He's not breathing still...kriff."

Rex started assistive breathing. Each time, Duke wouldn't breath on his own.

"Damnit Duke! Breathe! Come on you di'kuta! BREATHE!"

* * *

On the surface of Dantooine, a lone figure stands in a clearing where the camp of the 51st was. It was all destroyed by General Grievous and his droids when they retreated. The figure walks through the camp and to the other side of the clearing. A funeral pyre had once stood there with someone they loved as a sister and a lover. The cloak of the figure blows in the wind but it doesn't come off. The figure kneels before the ash and scans it. The figure spots what it was looking for and grabs it. The figure opens their hand and allows the ash to go with the wind. Remaining in their hand is a beautiful necklace. The figure clasps it around their neck and stands. The figure turns to the wind and the cloak's hood is removed. The face of Marissa stares into the sky to the _Resolute_ where her men are safe and sound. She fingers get necklace and mutters one name,

"Duke…"

* * *

Translations(in order):

vod-brother

di'kuta-idiot

* * *

 **Annddd second chapter is done! Let me know what you thought of it while following the rules I have for comments on my page! It was way shorter than the first chapter. Like I said I have some ideas for later chapters but I want you guys to suggest what I should do. I do get writers block a lot!**

 **May the force be with you, always!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Revival

**Kar'taylir Darasuum adol Kyr'am (Love through Death) Ch. 3**

 **Alright guys! New chapter! This will be longer than the second chapter...hopefully.**

 **: I'm glad you like it! I've liked the relationship between clones and their commanders, especially romance. Might see some familiar characters from a few books and movies and tv shows*wink wink*. Marissa will find Duke in a later chapter so stay tuned!*winks***

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Ch.3: Revival**

 _The figure turns to the wind and the cloak's hood is removed. The face of Marissa stares into the sky to the Resolute where her men are safe and sound. She fingers get necklace and mutters one name,_

" _Duke…"_

Marissa turns to walk away with a last glance at the _Resolute._ She walks into the woods and soon is enveloped in the shadows of the forest.

* * *

 _Rex started assistive breathing. Each time, Duke wouldn't breath on his own._

" _Damnit Duke! Breathe! Come on you di'kuta! BREATHE!"_

Duke still refused to breath. Rex had tears coming down his face as he continued,

"Come on, Duk'ika! Don't do this to me!"

Just as Rex was about to give up, Duke gasped for air. Rex quickly supports Duke's upper body by leaning him against him. Duke coughed and sputtered then his eyes open. Duke whispers

"Rex…?"

"I'm here, Duk'ika. I'm here."

Duke relaxes before sitting up slowly. He looks around the quarters he and Rex share when they're both on the _Resolute_.

"How'd I…?"

"Sly and I half carried, half dragged you here."

Duke looks down at the ground and folds his hands together and puts it to his face. Rex watches with sadness before hugging his brother from behind. Duke's shoulder shakes as he silently sobs.

"You loved her. Didn't you?"

Duke nods before fishing out the ring from his pocket.

"We got married before this campaign…"

"I'm sorry Duk'ika."

Duke sighs,

"There's nothing anyone can do. I'll remember her. Just as everyone from the 51st will. But I still have a job to do."

Duke gets up and gets his helmet after he slips the ring back into his pocket. He turns to Rex with a determined and angry look,

"We have a war to win, vod."

They both walk out of the room to do their duties, but Rex kept close to his younger brother.

* * *

Marissa walks through the plains of Dantooine. She quickly makes it to the ship she had brought down. It's a Mandalorian fighter. One of the big ones with the seats you can launch allies with jetpacks from. She enters and quickly changes to the Mandalorian armor she made with her uncle. Her armor is black with gold accents. She puts the helmet on the co-pilot seat and puts all her concealed weapons in their places. Then she puts the rest of her weapons in a secret compartment under her seat including her pistols and vibrosword. She starts up the systems and takes off. The _Resolute_ doesn't notice since it's on the other side of the planet. She sets coordinates to Coruscant in the jab computer and jumps into hyperspace. She sighs before contacting her uncle.

"Marissa. Good to hear from you."

She allows herself to smile,

"Good to hear you too, Kal."

"No 'uncle' this time?"

"No. I'm being cautious at the moment. But I'm en route to you now."

"Understood. What's your ETA?"

She checks the chrono and nav computer,

"Around 2 to 3 hours."

"See you then Mars'ika."

"See you then Ba'vodu Kal."

Kal smiles before the feed goes dead from the transmission ending. That's right Kal Skirata is her uncle, her ba'vodu. Funny to think that when her father is a senator for her homeworld. She laughs at the irony. She mutters,

"Ba'vodu Kal has wanted me to meet his boys for awhile. Now I finally get to meet them face to face…..in 2 to 3 hours at least."

Marissa crosses her arms and sets her chrono to wake her up as soon as she's close to dropping out of hyperspace.

* * *

Duke paces in the meeting room of the _Resolute_. Rex and Cody are there too. They are waiting for Generals Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to arrive. Speaking of which, the generals walk through the door to the meeting room and immediately head for Duke,

"We're sorry that Marissa died, Captain Duke. We all know that you married her with permission from the Jedi Council."

Duke simply nods as Cody and Rex ever so slightly scoot closer to him for support. General Skywalker moves and begins to type a command into the holocommunicator. General Kenobi speaks in his usual calm like manner,

"The council wishes to have a word with you, Duke. No, you're not in trouble, don't worry."

Duke closes his mouth and the question is gone from his mind. The hologram of Master Mace Windu and Master Yoda appear. Skywalker and Kenobi motion Duke to step forward. Duke does and Rex and Cody step up as well, but just a bit behind him for moral and emotional support. Yoda and Windu look at Duke and Yoda speaks first,

"For Marissa's loss, we are sorry to hear."

Mace Windu speaks in a sad tone,

"I will miss her. She was my apprentice."

Master Yoda sighs,

"But the truth, hid long enough it has."

"Agreed. Do you want me to tell him or you, Master Yoda?"

"Tell him, I will. Come, I will to the _Resolute._ "

"Are you sure General?"

"Sure, I am. Be there, I shall in a few hours."

"Understood, Master Yoda."

"Understood, General."

"Rex, Cody, Duke. You are dismissed."

"Sir, yes, sir!"

Duke walks out with Rex and Cody. He looks to them,

"General Yoda….is coming here to tell me something?"

Rex and Cody laugh,

"It appears so brother. Let's go to the mess and get something to eat."

"Ok. Let's go. I'm starving."

On the way there they laugh and joke but in the back of their minds they're wondering what General Yoda will tell Duke. They eat and joke with their men in the mess then they get a call to come back to the meeting room. They jog back. Once they enter, General Yoda stands there. He motions for them to sit and they do. Yoda looks down then up,

"Duke. Sorry, I am to keep this from you for this long. Marissa, still alive she is."

* * *

 **Translations(in order)**

 **vod-brother**

 **di'kuta-idiot**

 **Duk'ika- Little Duke(nickname among clones)**

 **Ba'vodu- Uncle**

* * *

 **Annnnddd done! Hope you enjoyed! There will be more chapters coming soon. Review! But please follow the rules I have.**

 **May the force be with you, always!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Shock

**Kar'taylir Darasuum adol Kyr'am (Love through Death) Ch. 4**

 **I'm so sorry for the late update! I've been filming a Star Wars fan film for about a month or so. And school starts soon. But, here's ze new chapter of this lovely installment! Please, read, enjoy, review!**

 **((Review with the rules I have please))**

 **I hope you enjoy this!**

 **Ch. 4**

 **Duke's P.O.V.**

 _He motions for them to sit and they do. Yoda looks down then up, "Duke. Sorry, I am to keep this from you for this long. Marissa, still alive she is."_

Duke gapes at Master Yoda in shock. There are a million questions running through the Captain of the 51st's head. The married clone stutters out, "W-what?"

The little green Jedi Master chuckles at Duke's reaction and begins to explain, "Faked her death, she did. Why, we do not know. Important, it must have been for her to fake her death."

The blonde clone and heavily scarred clone edge closer to their younger brother for support. Rex asks in a hesitant voice, "Why didn't she tell him? Or any of us?" Master Yoda looks down then back up with a grave look upon his features, "Unsure of this, I am. Said nothing, she did. Of utmost secrecy, it must have been."

Cody scowls and his scar stretches as he does so, "Where could she have gone? And she's without her lightsaber."

Master Yoda closes his green eyes and reaches out for Marissa in the force. He reopens his eyes once he gets through her barriers, "To Coruscant, she goes." As soon as the words come out of Yoda's mouth, Duke stands abruptly and makes his way to the door. He dashes through the hallways and gets to his room. Duke looks around quickly and grabs his helmet, weapons, the ring of his wife, her lightsaber, an encrypted communicator, and a datapad. He then dashes out of the room and goes to the barracks where his men stay. Duke enters with his purple marked armor and turns on the lights. He can hear the groans of his men as they roll out of bed. They see him instantly and stand at attention, "Captain, sir!" Duke sighs, "At ease, boys." They all relax and Duke steps further into the room and asks in a very serious voice, "Anyone willing to come with me on a special mission?" The men look amongst each other when the dirty blonde haired medic steps forward, "I do, sir!" Duke nods and mutters, "Thank you, Sly." The captain looks around and asks, "Anyone else?" A big hulking brother with buzzed hair steps forward, "I, for one, was getting bored anyways." Then seven more step forward. One with marble colored eyes, one who has a seaweed tattoo on the right side of his face and neck, one who has a darker skin color than the others, one who has implants and cybernetics, one whose face is always smiling, one who has a scar diagonally across his face, and one who is a mechanic with piercing ice blue eyes. Duke nods to each in turn and says their names in order of who joined, "Thank you, Sly, Shredder, Marble, Seaweed, Ninja, Tin, Joker, Kess, and Spark. Get your gear. Meet me in the hanger in 15." "Sir, yes, sir!" Duke left them to prepare and he dashed as fast as he could to the hanger. He arrived and boarded the ship Marissa had allowed the men to keep for off the radar missions. Duke quickly ran the pre-flight checks and check everything Marissa had said was important. He heard footsteps running up the ramp as he checked the last thing on the ship. "That you boys?!" Duke yelled over his shoulder. Nine voices yelled back, "Yes, sir!" The dirty blonde comes to the cockpit and quickly takes a seat in the copilot seat and asks, "We ready to go, Captain." The captain looks over and nods and yells over his shoulder, "Hold on boys! This is going to be a bumpy ride!" In the hold, the eight other brothers strapped themselves in as the ship exited the _Resolute_ and jumped into hyperspace, heading towards Coruscant.

 **Marissa's P.O.V.**

 _Marissa crosses her arms and sets her chrono to wake her up as soon as she's close to dropping out of hyperspace._

Marissa jolts awake as she hears a beeping noise. She rubs the sleep out of her eyes and quickly mans the controls to bring the ship out of hyperspace. Marissa turns her blue eyes towards the path she's supposed to go. She does follow it and lands in the spaceport. She walks out in her black and gold mandalorian armor. As she walks, a hand gripped hold of her and pulled her into an alleyway. Marissa pulls out a vibro knife and held it at her assailant's throat. Her assailant held up his hands and removed the gold helmet to reveal the face of Kal Skirata. Marissa's blue eyes widen and put the knife way and slapping him. "You dikuta!" She yelled, "I could've slit your throat!" Kal laughs, "Good to see you too, Mars'ika." They hug and separate. "Where's your boys?" Marissa asks. Kal chuckles as he replies, "They are waiting for us somewhere." Marissa sighs and doesn't push it, but instead puts on her helmet. Kal follows her lead and puts on his helmet. The golden armored Mandalorian leads the black and gold armored Mandalorian out of the alley and to an awaiting speeder. They travel for a few minutes before arriving at their destination. They landed and are walking to the doors when a blaster bolt whizzes past Marissa's helmeted head.


	5. Chapter 5 Of Tensions, Arrivals,Brothers

Chapter 5: Of Tensions, Arrivals, and Brothers

 **I'm so sorry for the late update! I've been sick for the longest time and school has been a pain in my neck along with trying to get into a college. But, here's ze new chapter of this lovely installment! Please, read, enjoy, review!**

 **((Review with the rules I have please))**

 **I hope you enjoy this!**

 **Marissa**

 _Kal got in between them all and yelled, "STAND DOWN! All of you!" Some of the troopers lowered them, but one still pointed it at her. "Ordo. Stand. Down. Now."_

Marissa narrows her eyes at the one Kal had told to stand down. He was bigger than the rest. Obviously had high command in GAR and he seemed cautious towards Karl's order to stand down. He seemed to size her up before he lowered his carbon blaster and grunted, "I doubt she's a threat anyways…" She eyed him and lowered her weapons but didn't put them in their holsters till she sighed, "Don't push your luck there...Ordo." His head popped up at his name and his lips pulled back into a beginning of a snarl. Right before either of them could talk, Kal got in the middle and snapped, "Enough! Both of you. Ordo, boys. This is Marissa, my oldest niece. Born to an Alderaan noble and my sister. I will not speak her name. She's a Jedi as well as mandalorian." Marissa nods, "I left my lightsaber behind to come here. I didn't leave the Order, but," she smiles sheepishly, "I kinda faked my death to get here." They all gaped at her before Kal started laughing, "Come on. Let's get inside before it starts raining." The assorted group began to walk inside as the clouds over them opened up and rain poured down on them. Soon they were in the apartment Kal and his boys stayed at and amidst the talking and excitement, Marissa knelt down next to the man who had tried to kill her. She began to study the man. High cheekbones, sunken eyes, bald with a red tattoo over his right eye and above it. Walon Vau, wearing his usual black mandalorian armor, walked up to her. Marissa's ocean blue eyes looked up to Vau's gold ones as Vau asked, "Why fake your own death to come here and help us?" Marissa stood and calmly spoke, "Kal contacted me. It's not that he doesn't trust you and the others to get it done, it's just that," she pauses and thinks 'Should I really tell them?' before making up her mind not to. "I know someone who's helping them. And Kal knew I'd rather come and face her than have someone else get to her." A look of curiosity crossed the black armored man's face before falling back into his normal steely look. Vau nods, "I understand. But we will need to discuss what to do later." Marissa smirks, "I know." They both laugh as they both walk back to the rest of the boys.

 **Duke**

As the blur of hyperspace passes, Duke and the last of his batch, Sly, sit in the cockpit. In the back, the snores of the others are heard as they sleep before they reach Coruscant. The dirty blonde haired medic touches up the purple accents on his armor. His Phase 3 helmet fin is painted purple and on the back of his helmet he has the names of his 3 batch mates that didn't make it. As for his body armor, his chest plate has it almost completely purple except for the middle, which forms the outline of a medic sign and Duke's pistol, and the part which sticks out in the back. As he works, he watches Duke closely. His brown eyes on the blue lines of hyperspace and zoned out, body relaxed but tense. The Captain of the 51st's mind wanders back to the trip to Naboo. The 51st was sent there on leave and the Queen gave them unrestricted access to everywhere on Naboo. The waterfalls in the meadow is where he and Marissa got engaged and the entire 51st was in the plan. They were already going there, but Duke wanted it to be the place to do it and in front of the men who viewed her as sister rather than a commander. The entire of the 51st were overjoyed that Marissa said yes that they parted all night and watched as Duke and Marissa were wed the following day. He was about to think of the honeymoon night when a voice interrupted him,

"Are you thinking about her?"

Duke's head snaps up and looks around before looking at Sly, "What? Oh, yes. I am." Sly smirkes, "It was in your eyes and face." The medic looks down then back up, "What do you think she left for?" Duke sighs, "I don't know, but I'm not sure I'll like it when she tells us." Sly nods in agreement before looking Duke square in the eyes, "We might have to fight there." Duke sighes, "I know. Please be careful. I don't want to lose you too." Sly smiles comforting, "I will and I know you will too. Cause I don't want to lose you either, brother." The two stand and clasp their forearms in a brotherly manner, put their foreheads together, and close their eyes before the blaring and blinking of the alarm, that means they are coming out of hyperspace, brings them apart. Sly sits as does Duke as they bring the ship out of hyperspace and go to land at the space port. "Sly, get the boys up will you? We need to move in less than 30 minutes." The dirty blonde nods and smirks, "It would be my pleasure, Captain." Sly goes into the back and yells, "GET UP! Come on! We're on Triple Zero and we move in less than 30 minutes!" Groans and muffled protests come from the men. As Sly gets them up, Duke stares out the window before going through his gear. He made sure his dual blaster pistols are in working order, checking his communications, then his night vision. After that, he puts Marissa's lightsaber in his pack and strings her ring on a chain and put it around his neck. Duke steps into the back and finds his men putting on their purple accented armor and checking their gear along with talking to their closest brothers, telling them to stay alive. The 51st's captain quickly strides over to Sly and puts a hand on his shoulder, before lowering the ramp to the spaceport. Duke turns to his men, "Come on men! Marissa is here and we need to find her to get some explanations! Then help her if she's in trouble or in something over her head, which she probably is. Like usual." Sly and the rest of the men snicker at that, before falling silent at Duke's glare. "Alright. Now let's move out, before it either A. Pours rain with thunder and lighting or B. Gets dark and we've got maybe 3 hours on our hands. But we will probably have to fight someone, everyone be careful, we don't want anyone to get hurt or worse, die. We don't want that at all. What do you boys say?" They cheer in agreement as they begin to descend the ramp."


	6. Chapter 6 Of Talks, Nightmares,Mysteries

**Kar'taylir Darasuum adol Kyr'am (Love through Death) Ch. 6**

 _ **Italics is a nightmare**_

Duke and the rest of his squad move through Coruscant quickly and effectively as they look for their commander and sister. They check restaurants, alleyways, cantinas, bars, anywhere really. They go deeper and deeper into the underbelly. Eventually, Duke spots Marissa standing outside of a cantina with another mandalorian. The group makes their way over and Marissa abruptly ends the conversation with Kal because she sensed Duke approach. Marissa turns around, "What are you guys doing here?"

Duke fires back, "I could ask you the same question." Marissa sighs, "Fair enough. It is good to see you boys." They all clasp forearms except for Duke and Marissa. Duke puts an arm around her waist and pulls her closer to him then kisses her. Marissa kisses back. They pull apart at someone clearing their throat. Kal looks like he wants to kill Duke. Marissa quickly explains, "Its fine Kal. He's my husband." Kal looks shocked before nodding in approval. They go inside the cantina to get some food and drink. The rest of the group get along great with Kal's boys as they laugh and have friendly competitions. As they have fun, Kal and Marissa head upstairs to interrogate the prisoner. Marissa circles the man as Kal asks questions.

The man spits in Kal's face, "I won't give you anything." Marissa laughs, "You will. Eventually." Kal begins to beat him up and he does break. "OK! OK! I'LL TALK! I'll talk. Their base is a warehouse down in the lowest section of Coruscant. They have guards and everything with strong defenses. They have illegal goods there as well as prisoners. If you do plan on going in there, your going to need a guards clearance, mine is in my pouch." Kal nods, "Thank you." He shoots him and Marissa just looks at him, "Do not ask me to clean this up." Kal laughs, "Of course not. The thought never crossed my mind. I'll get the clearance card and clean it up."

Marissa nods and looks at the stairs as the boys came up. No one batted an eye at the dead man. Marissa yawns, "I'm going to bed." Duke immediately follows her. Marissa takes off her armor and puts on sleepwear. Duke puts her lightsaber next to the armor and her wedding ring. Marissa smiles and gestures for him to join her. They lay down and Duke spoons her, causing Marissa to smile as she nods off.

 _Marissa stands before the senator of a planet whose name she did not know. He looks her up and down before turning to Mace Windu who is her current master, "She will be fine." Mace bows and leaves. Marissa bows to the senator, "How can I assist you, Senator?" The senator stands and walks over to her, "My planet has had separatist droids on it for far too long. I'd like you and your battalion to help me get rid of the separatist occupation on my planet." "Of course. Is Grievous or Ventress there?" "No. Wat Tambor is." Marissa flinches but nods, "I can understand why you want him off your planet. He plunders the riches and doesn't care about people." "Exactly. My people are furious with him and want him gone as well as the droids." "Then we will drive them off for you and your people." The senator smiles kindly, "Then let us leave immediately." The board her ship and once they are on the surface with the entire battalion everything went downhill. Marissa was grabbed by the senator and chained to a wall. "What are you doing?" Marissa struggles. "I'm switching sides Jedi. I've never liked your kind or the Republic or your clones. And I've been supplying the separatist with information about your Republic, clones, and Jedi" Marissa watches with horror as her men are slaughtered like animals. She struggles harder, "STOP! PLEASE STOP!" The senator does nothing to stop the massacre, only smiling wickedly. Marissa turns back to her men, her personal squad that she takes on missions are the only ones left but are failing. Her husband and Sly are working with their batch mates to survive. Marissa screams and cries out as they fall one by one. Soon it's only Duke and Sly left and she breaks the chains holding her and holds her lightsaber to the senators throat and growls, "Order them to stop!" The senator gulps and calls out, "Hold your fire!" The shooting stops and Duke and Sly look up. The senator hisses, "Leave and never come back." Marissa leaves a burn mark on his throat before jumping down and running to a gunship. They hop on and report to Mace Windu about what happened and gives them leave till they can get another battalion together._

Marissa jerks awake screaming. Duke holds her as she screams and cries. Tears come down like rivers on Marissa's face. Duke lets out some tears as her strokes her hair and holds her close. "Ssshhh. You're safe. I'm here. I'm here. Sly is here too. Ssshhh ssshhh love sh its ok. We're here." Marissa slowly calms down but keeps her head on Duke's chest, "I failed them." "We all did." They stay there like that till they both fall asleep.

Sly and the others heard. They started to move forward to their room but Sly and the rest of the boys from the 51st stop them, "That's not a good idea." "Why?" "She's unpredictable when she's like that." "What made her like this?"

Sly sighs, "Have you guys heard of the 51st massacre?" Everyone nods. "That was when Marissa was new to the commander position. She was assigned to a senator and they were to take back his planet, but he turned out to be a separatist spy and lead them into a trap. The attack he launched started when she was chained up. The senator had droids surrounding us and the fired and wouldn't stop. She was screaming, crying, and pleading for him to stop, but he only stopped the attack when she held her saber to his throat after she broke the chains. She has flashbacks and nightmares. They're really bad. And Duke and I are the only ones who can calm her down after she haves them. If someone else tries to do it they will end up hurt in some way. Its because she thinks she's still in a nightmare or flashback. Only reason Duke and I can is because we were there and we understand. We all have those episodes but her's last longer and have a more drastic effect on her. Sometimes she doesn't have them sometimes she does. Its unpredictable." Everyone looks down and just looks sadly at the door.

In the warehouse the man spoke of, a young woman with red tipped hair stands on a balcony facing the rough direction the cantina where Marissa and the rest are staying. She looks a lot like Marissa but more aggressive features and shorter hair. Her clothes are red with black accents and a black lightsaber on her belt. She growls as she felt the man she sent after Marissa die. "They are coming put the whole place on alert. No one comes in and no one goes out if they get in here." A man bows as he comes out of the shadows, "Of course mistress." He runs and she bares her teeth, "And so it begins. Come and get me Mars if you are up for the challenge."

 **Sorry for the delayed update guys. Had severe writer's block but I finally did it! It's about to get very interesting in the next few chapters. ;)**


End file.
